Jiang Lei not only ordered food but also added a bottle of white liquor later.
In total, the al cost over six thousand yuan.
After three rounds of drinks, Qi Dong was completely drunk, feeling incredibly cheerful. He had already forgotten about Jiang Lei not helping him carry his luggage earlier.
"Young man, you're really sothing. If you ever visit Huayuan City, let be the host and treat you properly."
Qi Dong smiled and thanked Jiang Lei.
Jiang Lei waved his hand and chuckled. "Uncle Dong, don’t say that. I’m Xueyao’s friend—this is what I should do."
Without waiting for Qi Dong to respond, Jiang Lei stood up.
"Uncle Dong, I’ve had too much to drink. I need to use the restroom."
Qi Dong had spent his entire life in a small town like Huayuan City, farming and rarely eating out, let alone experiencing tricks like using the restroom as an excuse to escape paying the bill.
He grinned and waved Jiang Lei off. "Go ahead, go ahead. Your alcohol tolerance is terrible—just don’t fall into the toilet."
Qi Lin’s black eyes glead slightly.
His goal had been achieved—it was ti to retreat.
Feigning a trip to the restroom, he slipped away while Qi Dong wasn’t paying attention.
As soon as he was outside, Qi Lin called Chen Shing. "Chen, hold him off for another ten minutes, then you can back off."
anwhile—
"Are you guys done yet?"
"I already said I’m not staying in a hotel, not taking a taxi, and not watching so ethnic girls dance! Can you get out of my way? I’m waiting to pick soone up!"
At the train station plaza, the real Jiang Lei was anxiously trying to push away the persistent touts surrounding him.
Half an hour earlier, Jiang Lei had arrived at the train station by taxi.
But before he could even make it to the exit to pick up Qi Dong, he was blocked by five people.
They kept trying to convince him to take a taxi, book a hotel, or go watch a dance performance by ethnic girls.
At first, Jiang Lei had politely declined. But as he realized they had no intention of letting him go, he started yelling for the police, hoping they would step in.
But at the train station, this kind of solicitation was common. Since the touts weren’t using violence, the officers turned a blind eye and ignored the situation.
As a result, poor Jiang Lei was trapped in this tug-of-war with the touts for half an hour.
Seeing Qi Lin’s call, Chen Shing glanced at his phone, smirked, and continued blocking Jiang Lei.
Only after another ten minutes did he give a subtle signal to his n.
Mission accomplished.
The group dispersed instantly, pocketing their two-hundred-yuan paynt and heading off to enjoy themselves.
"Damn it! These scumbags are insane!"
"Xueyao’s dad must have been waiting for ages. Now my first impression is completely ruined!"
Jiang Lei cursed angrily before rushing toward the exit.
anwhile, inside the upscale restaurant—
Jiang Lei still hadn’t returned, so Qi Dong slowly finished his al, even cleaning up every last bit.
But ten minutes passed, and Jiang Lei was still nowhere to be seen.
Qi Dong found it odd and decided to go check the restroom.
"That kid didn’t really fall into the toilet, did he?"
He muttered to himself.
"Excuse , sir, but you haven’t settled your bill yet."
As Qi Dong stood up, a waitress imdiately stopped him.
Her tone irritated Qi Dong. "What are you talking about? I’m just going to the restroom to find soone. Jiang Lei will pay when he gets back."
The waitress’s expression turned awkward, but she still inford him, "The gentleman who ca with you left over ten minutes ago. There’s no one in the restroom now."
"He left?"
Qi Dong was stunned, as if struck by lightning.
"Impossible! He was sent by my daughter to pick up. How could he just leave? Let go check the restroom!"
He beca agitated and pushed past the waitress, heading straight for the restroom.
"Manager!"
The waitress turned to her manager with a helpless look.
The manager, clearly used to situations like this, shook his head. "Let him check. As long as he doesn’t run, we’ll be fine. If he refuses to pay, we’ll just call the police."
Qi Dong thoroughly searched the restroom but found nothing.
He wasn’t stupid—he instantly realized he had been tricked.
That little bastard had scamd him into paying for an expensive al, then used the restroom as an excuse to sneak away.
Realizing this, Qi Dong was so furious his mustache practically curled.
"You little bastard! You dare scam ? You must have a death wish!"
He stord out of the restroom, ready to hunt Jiang Lei down and give him a beating.
But before he could leave, several well-dressed male waiters blocked his path.
"Sir, you need to settle your bill before leaving. Otherwise, we’ll call the police imdiately."
Qi Dong’s voice was filled with frustration. "Are you all blind? I was tricked into coming here! I’m just a farr—how could I afford such an expensive al? That little bastard set up!"
The manager smiled politely. "That’s your personal issue. But since you’re the one here now, you have to pay."
"Ugh!"
Qi Dong was so enraged he nearly fainted.
But he also didn’t want to embarrass himself by having his daughter bail him out at the police station.
With trembling hands, he pulled out a plastic bag and slowly counted out six thousand yuan for the manager.
That bag had originally held ten thousand yuan—his entire yearly earnings. He had planned to give it to Qi Xueyao as living expenses or startup money.
Now, most of it had gone to waste on this ridiculous al.
After paying, Qi Dong was finally allowed to leave.
Standing outside the restaurant, he stared blankly at the crowd, seething with rage but with nowhere to vent it.
With so many people around, how could he possibly find that little scam artist?
"Xueyao! That brat was sent by Xueyao! She must know where he is!"
A thought struck Qi Dong, and he gritted his teeth as he pulled out his old cell phone and dialed Qi Xueyao’s number.
"Hey, Dad, did Jiang Lei pick you up yet? Why aren’t you here yet?"
Qi Xueyao was in class when she got the call. She gave her classmates an apologetic glance before stepping outside to answer.
But in the next second, her eardrum was nearly shattered.
"Qi Xueyao! Is this the kind of useless friend you have? Do you have any idea that I almost had a heart attack because of that brat?!"
Qi Xueyao: "???"
She was utterly confused and forced a smile. "Dad, what happened? Why are you so mad?"
Qi Dong roared, "Jiang Lei—the guy you sent to pick up—took to an expensive restaurant, ordered six thousand yuan worth of food, then ran off under the excuse of going to the restroom! He left to pay for everything! If I hadn’t paid, I would have been taken to the police station! Do you understand?!"
Qi Xueyao: "…"
"Dad, are you sure you didn’t mistake soone else and follow the wrong person?"
Her first reaction was disbelief. The second was that her father must have been scamd by a random con artist.
"Are you calling an idiot?! That brat introduced himself as Jiang Lei and even ntioned your na!"
Qi Dong’s voice was filled with rage.
Qi Xueyao now realized the severity of the situation.
"Dad, please calm down. I’ll call Jiang Lei and see what’s going on."
"You get that brat over here now! I’ve never been this humiliated in my life! If he doesn’t give a damn good explanation today, then it’s either or him!"
With that, Qi Dong hung up.
Hearing her father’s fury, Qi Xueyao didn’t dare delay. She imdiately dialed Jiang Lei’s number.
"Jiang Lei, did you pick up my dad?"
Jiang Lei sounded flustered. "Xueyao, I’m so sorry! As soon as I got out of the taxi, I was blocked by so touts. I just made it to the exit now—I’m still looking for your dad!"
Qi Xueyao: "…"
Of course, Qi Xueyao believed Jiang Lei. She quickly realized that her father had definitely been tricked.
"Jiang Lei, my dad got off the train a long ti ago. Soone impersonated you, picked him up, and scamd him out of six thousand yuan. Hurry and find him—don’t let him do anything impulsive."
She imagined that the person who scamd Qi Dong was definitely not the real Jiang Lei.
Once Jiang Lei t up with Qi Dong, the misunderstanding would be cleared up.
"What? Uncle Qi got scamd? Oh, okay, I’ll go find him right away!"
Jiang Lei nodded hastily.
"He’s right in front of the restaurant at the East Exit. Go there imdiately."
Qi Xueyao gave him the location.
Jiang Lei hung up and quickly looked around.
It didn’t take long before he spotted the restaurant.
He pushed through the crowd and hurried over.
Sure enough, he wasn’t disappointed—Qi Xueyao’s father was sitting on the steps outside the restaurant, his expression dark.
"Uncle, I was sent by Xueyao to pick you up. I heard you were scamd. What did the scamr look like?"
Jiang Lei approached with concern.
Qi Dong froze when he heard the familiar voice.
The mont he looked up and saw Jiang Lei’s face—the very face that made his blood boil—he couldn’t hold back anymore.
"You little bastard, you dare co back? I’m going to beat you to death today!"
BANG!
Before Jiang Lei could even react, a heavy punch landed right on his nose.
Splat!
Warm liquid stread down from his nostrils.
"Hiss! Uncle Qi, calm down! I wasn’t the one who scamd you—this must be a misunderstanding!"
Jiang Lei was utterly shocked but didn’t dare fight back.
Clutching his nose in pain, he tried to reason with Qi Dong.
"You’re still pretending? You were the one who picked up earlier! Damn it! You looked decent on the outside, but you’re nothing but a shaless fraud! If I don’t beat your teeth out today, my last na isn’t Qi!"
Qi Dong, having spent years doing farm work, was in his early forties but was far stronger than Jiang Lei.
"Agh!"
Before Jiang Lei could even react, another punch landed squarely on his eye, instantly swelling it up.
"He’s lost his mind! Xueyao’s dad has gone completely insane!"
Seeing Qi Dong glaring at him like an enraged beast, Jiang Lei was scared out of his wits.
He didn’t even bother explaining anymore—he scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.
While he couldn’t win in a fight, Jiang Lei was as fast as a rabbit.
With the train station packed with people, he quickly disappeared into the crowd.
"Damn it! Lucky for you, you run fast!"
Failing to catch Jiang Lei, Qi Dong spat on the ground.
Then, as if rembering sothing, he cald down and sighed.
"In the end, it’s still better to choose soone you truly understand. People say it’s better to break up a temple than a marriage, but Xueyao is too naive—she keeps getting fooled by these kinds of guys. She’d have a much better life with Qi Lin."
"Hmph! This ti, I’m arranging her marriage! If Xueyao dares reject Qi Lin, I’ll break her legs!"
With that thought, Qi Dong dialed Qi Lin’s number.
"Xiao Lin, your uncle wants to co to Jianghan City to see Xueyao and you."
At that mont, Qi Lin was already back in his car, having removed his disguise.
"Uncle is coming to Jianghan City? That’s great! When are you arriving? I’ll arrange a welco dinner for you."
Qi Lin sounded genuinely excited.
"I’m already at Jianghan City’s train station."
Hearing Qi Lin’s enthusiastic response, Qi Dong felt warm inside.
"You’re already here? Why didn’t you say so earlier! Alright, I’ll skip class right now and co pick you up. Just wait for there!"
With that, Qi Lin hung up.
After ending the call, he set an alarm on his phone, turned on the air conditioning, and went to sleep.
If he was going to put on an act, he had to do it right.
It took at least forty minutes to get from school to the train station.
Hearing the dial tone after Qi Lin hung up, Qi Dong was montarily stunned.
Then, he couldn’t stop smiling.
"Qi Lin is such a great kid! He’s even skipping class just to co pick up!"
"Sigh, I really don’t understand what’s going through Xueyao’s mind. She’s ignoring such a perfect boyfriend and instead prefers so smooth-talking pretty boy."
"No way—I have to talk so sense into her when she gets ho tonight."
anwhile, Jiang Lei, bruised and battered, fled back to his office.
"Sob, sob, sob! Xueyao, your dad has lost his mind! I went to find him, and he didn’t even let explain! He just punched in the face! Look! My nose is bleeding, and my eye is swollen!"
Qi Xueyao had just finished class. The mont she stepped out of the classroom, she saw Jiang Lei crying to her like a wounded puppy.
Qi Xueyao: "…"
Pfft!
With his bleeding nose and swollen eye, Jiang Lei’s once-handso face now looked like a bruised peach.
Qi Xueyao really didn’t want to laugh—but she couldn’t hold it in.
"You’re laughing?!"
Jiang Lei looked at her with wounded eyes, feeling utterly betrayed.
"Sorry! I didn’t an to!"
Qi Xueyao covered her stomach, trying to stifle her laughter.
At the sa ti, she felt puzzled.
She knew Jiang Lei wasn’t the one who scamd her father, so why did her father attack him on sight?
Could there be sothing she wasn’t aware of?
"I’ll call my dad and find out where he is."
Qi Xueyao was worried that her father might have gone back to their hotown in anger or done sothing reckless.
"Dad, why did you hit Jiang Lei?"
She asked with amusent.
"You still have the nerve to ask? That bastard scamd out of six thousand yuan, then had the audacity to co back pretending he didn’t know ! Who else was I supposed to hit?!"
"And listen, Qi Xueyao, you’d better cut ties with that Jiang Lei! If I ever catch you hanging around him again, I’ll break your legs!"
Qi Xueyao: "…"
"Dad, are you sure the person who scamd you looked exactly like Jiang Lei?"
She asked in disbelief.
"You think your dad is blind?! That slick pretty boy—I’d recognize him even if he turned to ashes!"
Qi Dong huffed angrily.
Now even Qi Xueyao was beginning to doubt things.
She covered the phone’s mic and lowered her voice.
"Jiang Lei, tell honestly—did you scam my dad?"
"Xueyao! You actually suspect ?! We’ve been university classmates for four years! Don’t you know what kind of person I am? Don’t you know how much I love you? Would I really ruin my relationship with your dad over six thousand yuan?!"
Jiang Lei was so agitated that his nose started bleeding again.
"Alright, alright, calm down! I believe you, okay?"
Qi Xueyao quickly comforted him, though she felt the situation wasn’t as simple as it seed.
"Qi Xueyao! I just heard Jiang Lei’s voice! Is that bastard with you right now?!"
Qi Dong’s furious voice bood through the phone.
Qi Xueyao panicked.
"Dad, you must be hearing things! Jiang Lei isn’t here!"
Afraid her father would press further, she quickly changed the subject.
"Dad, where are you? The train station isn’t safe—let co pick you up."
She wanted to bring her father over first and then diate the situation.
"No need! Qi Lin is skipping class to co pick up. He’s more reliable than you, his own daughter!"
"Just co straight ho after work. I’ll be waiting for you at Qi Lin’s house for dinner!"
With that, Qi Dong hung up.
But Jiang Lei’s face had already darkened with rage.
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